Tuesday, March 19, 2013
BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Tournament MVP Richard Woodworth scored 15 points and hit both ends of a one-and-one with 7.7 seconds left to lift No. 4 nationally-ranked Western Washington to a 62-58 win over No. 2 Seattle Pacific Tuesday in the NCAA Division II West Regional men’s basketball championship game at Carver Gymnasium.
The Vikings (30-2) head to the Elite Eight in Louisville, Kent., for a chance to win their second straight national title. Seattle Pacific (27-4) came up short of the host Vikings in the West Regional final for the second straight year.
The Vikings will face South Region champion Florida Southern, a 90-88 winner over Alabama Huntsville, in a national quarterfinal at Louisville on next Thursday (March 28).
The Falcons were down 60-58, but had the ball with 15.5 seconds left in the game. After they brought it into front court, Western’s Rico Wilkins knocked it away from SPU guard Riley Stockton, and Woodworth recovered. He was fouled and drained both free throws for a 62-58 advantage.
SPU’s David Downs got off a 3-pointer as time was running out, but it missed, and the loose ball rolled on the floor under the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
Cameron Severson added 14 points for Western, and Anye Turner had 10, getting eight of those in the final six minutes. That include a driving lay-in with 2:29 left that put Western back on top for good 58-57.
Patrick Simon led the Falcons with 14 points and also handed out five assists. Jobi Wall added 11, and Andy Poling and Cory Hutsen chipped in 10 apiece.
The game was tied seven times, and the lead changed hands 10 times.
Seattle Pacific led for most of the first half, pushing it to six points on two occasions, the last time at 27-21 with 4:20 left when Downs stole the ball, went downcourt and drained a 22-foot trey from the right side.
Western cut it to 29-28 on a tip-in by Cameron Severson with 1:01 before the intermission and had a chance to take the lead, but couldn’t get a shot off before the 35-second clock expired. The Falcons had two attempts to extend their lead, but went into the locker room with that one-point advantage.
The first half was tied just once, and the lead changed hands three times – all in the first two minutes of the game.
The triumph was the 27th straight at home for WWU, extending its Great Northwest Athletic Conference record. The Vikings finished a perfect 17-0 at Carver Gym this season.
Joining Woodworth on the all-tournament team were Wall and Simon of SPU, WWU guard John Allen and Kwame Alexander of Cal State San Bernardino.
WWU and SPU had already met three times this season prior to Tuesday. The Vikings claimed two regular-season triumphs, winning at Seattle 66-56 on Jan. 3 and at Bellingham 83-76 in overtime on Feb. 2. But the Falcons claimed a 72-70 triumph in the GNAC championship game at Lacey on Mar. 9.
It is the second straight season that WWU has won 30 or more games, the only two in school history.